A South African consumers' guide to scams, pseudoscience and voodoo science, OR, a critical thinker's guide to the ins and outs of Complementary and Alternative Medicine
The misconception that we can purify our bodies isn’t our fault. But it’s a distraction from a deeper problem Adrienne Matei Wed 31 Jul 2024 17.00 BST
In April, at the Ted conference in Vancouver, BC, I watched a woman pull a variety of mushroom powders from her purse, scoop them into a thermos, and add hot water from a nearby tea station to make an earthy beverage.
Intrigued, I asked about her favorite health practices, and she started describing a recent trip to Costa Rica to get plasmapheresis.
“It’s when they take your old plasma out, and they replace it with new, fresh plasma,” she explained.
“Donated plasma?” I asked, picturing a commune’s worth of Bryan Johnson’s teenage sons, milked daily for vital proteins. But she said it had been synthetic plasma, as a detox treatment intended to manage an autoimmune disease.
The company, which has been hauled before the advertising authorities repeatedly for false advertising, says zappers lure mozzies into a trap, which then kills them. But UV light alone doesn’t work.
Ever bought a UV-light mosquito zapper and wondered why it wasn’t zapping dead legions of the little buggers?Chris van Eeden is likely to be one of many consumers duped into buying the devices to kill mosquitoes. Peaved because his didn’t work, he took his complaint about a Homemark television advertisement for a “killer” electric mosquito USB lamp – that is claimed to electrocute the flying parasites – to the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB).
The 30-second advert describes the device as a USB-powered mosquito killer that is “chemical-free and safe for loved ones and pets”.
“The energy-efficient ultraviolet light helps to lure the mosquitoes and other flying pests closer to the
Homemark continues to scam consumers selling unproven products, and products known to be scams. Like their Remedy Health Detox Foot Pads.
A complaint was laid with the Advertising Regulatory Board, and here is an article, behind a paywall, on this.
TV stations ordered to discontinue ‘misleading’ adverts for foot pads claimed to detoxify the body while user is asleep
03 April 2023 – 20:27 BY GILL GIFFORD
A Homemark television advert promoting Remedy Health Detox Foot Pads has been found to be in breach of the Advertising Code by the Advertising Regulatory Board, which has advised broadcasters to stop flighting it. .. TimesLive
Since time immemorial, women have been sold products to narrow their midsections and flatten their bellies. In the United States, whalebone stays of the 18th and 19th centuries gave way to tight-cinch girdles under 1950s flounce.
Now, the lucrative shapewear industry and celebrity influencers have pitched certain stomach-squishing products as more than just strategies for smoothing special outfits.
Videos of sessions from the online conference “Multilevel Marketing: The Consumer Protection Challenge 2023,” are now available to be viewed for free. The event was the third annual multilevel-marketing (MLM) conference sponsored by The College of New Jersey School of Business.
Session 1 addressed how some current MLM businesses operate and outlined recent legal cases.
Session 2 featured activists who are critical of MLM on social media.
Session 3 focused on MLM industry documents, statements, and behaviors. It included a talk by Dr. Stephen Barrett on the types of harm caused by the multilevel marketing of useless health products, how ZYTO devices are used to offer baseless recommendations for multilevel-marketed health products, and baseless health claims made for multilevel-marketed Healy devices. (Quackwatch has detailed reports on the ZYTOand Healy devices.)
Session 4 focused on the Business Opportunity Rule and other recent MLM news.
Exercise physiologist Nick Tiller, MRes, PhD, has examined the jargon-filled promotional claims and scientific evidence regarding kinesiology tape, also known as Kinesio Tape, KT Tape, or K-Tape, commonly used by athletes to stabilize injured joints. He concluded:
When the omnipresence of K-tape in health and fitness is contrasted against the evidence for its benefit, the disparity is among the largest I have seen for any intervention, second only to chiropractic and homeopathy. Exactly how long this practice will endure, despite the damning evidence, remains to be seen, although if other pseudoscientific practices serve as an indication, K-Tape may be with us indefinitely. Notwithstanding, there is likely to be a potent placebo effect that some proponents will use to justify its continued use in the clinic. In fact, around 40 percent of athletic trainers and physiotherapists are already cognizant that K-tape works only via placebo. They use … Read the rest
Dnanalysis continues to claim efficacy for the genetic testing and diet/weight-loss efficacy.
On the website, they claim “DNA Diet® is a genetic test designed to guide the personalisation of diet and lifestyle recommendations in order to manage weight. It provides insight into which diet type (low carbohydrate, low fat, or Mediterranean diet) would be most suitable for you according to your unique genetic makeup.”
Yet years after starting with these claims, the evidence to back up claims that a DNA test can assist with weight-loss or weigh management remains very thin.
Here is the most recent article rebutting these claims:
But, as people got older, we also noticed differences in their weight that couldn’t be explained by genetics or social background. This meant that neither of those factors is a good predictor of any particular person’s body weight.
Joe Schwarcz, Ph.D. who directs McGill University’s Office for Science & Society, has summarized the chemistry and marketing of essential oil products used for aromatherapy.
Sales of essential oils are dominated by multi-level marketing (MLM) companies that snare potential participants with promises of wealth through a commission system. Unfortunately, this often drives individuals to make outlandish claims about using the oils to treat cancer, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, mononucleosis or arthritis. There seems to be an oil for any condition that potential customers have. The Food and Drug Administration in the United States has sent warning letters to the major MLM companies, resulting in more careful wording of claims, but there is no way to police what parties say in the privacy of a home, where … Read the rest
USN, Evox, Nutritech and others claim that sportsmen and those wishing to tone their body, or lose weight, require 100% whey or supplementation with additional protein. BBC News reviewed these claims.
Many of us consciously eat a high-protein diet, with protein-rich products readily available, but how much protein do we really need? And does it actually help us lose weight?
In the early 20th Century, Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson spent a collective five years eating just meat. This meant that his diet consisted of around 80% fat and 20% protein. Twenty years later, he did the same as part of a year-long experiment at the New York City’s Bellevue Hospital in 1928.
Stefansson wanted to disprove those who argued that humans cannot … Read the rest